The Hope of Heaven

John 14:1–6 NASB95

“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. “And you know the way where I am going.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

a. Trust in the Promise of God (14:1-3)

b. Trust in the Person of Christ (14:4-6)

1. INTRODUCTION

2. BODY

a. Trust in the Promise of God (14:1-3)

i. Our passage begins in verse 1 where Jesus starts off by telling all those around Him to believe in God, but also in Him. Previously, Jesus was speaking to Simon Peter in 13:36-38 where Simon Peter asks Jesus the question, “Where are you going?” Jesus responds by telling him, “Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later.”

ii. The context of Peter and Jesus’s conversation was dealing with Jesus predicting who would betray Him and that He would be killed (John 13:21-32). This is followed by Jesus telling His disciples the new command in Christ in John 13:34-35 where He explains to them that the world will know they are His disciples by the way they love each other.

iii. Immediately following this, Peter asks Him Lord, where are you going? And Jesus tells Peter that he will deny Him which leads us into 14:1.

iv. Jesus starts by telling his disciples, stop being troubled. This statement is important because you have to think of the context. Jesus had told His disciples that one of them would betray Him. Jesus was telling His disciples that He would be leaving them and Peter responds by telling Jesus, I will lay down my life for you. Jesus answers Peter by telling him, no you will deny me three times. This is a shocking statement not only to Peter but to everyone else. If Peter, the greatest disciple with his outspoken conviction would deny Christ, how great is this obstacle? Surely, if Peter will deny Christ, they have no chance. They must be trembling to think, what type of trial will come to them?

v. This is where Jesus tells them, stop being troubled. Not only are they disturbed and troubled by the fact that Jesus will be leaving them, something so tragic will happen that the greatest disciple will abandon Christ. At this moment, Jesus tells them, don’t be overcome by the situation. Don’t look at your surroundings and even the situation itself. Believe in God and believe in what I am telling you right now.

vi. Jesus encourages them to “believe” or “keep on believing” in God and in him not in a generalized or merely confessional sense, but specifically in relation to his departure. Jesus told them in 13:36 that where He is going, you cannot follow. I know you are scared by my leaving and the fact something so difficult will happen that it will cause you guys to deny me, but still, believe in me. Believe me when I tell you this.

vii. What does Jesus tell them? Verse 2. “In my Father’s household are many dwellings,” he continues. At this point, Jesus was telling them about His Father’s house which was in heaven itself. Jesus tells His listeners that in His Father’s house, there is plenty of room for them. This is a common theme throughout the book of John. Jesus was teaching them that if they believe in Him and continue to believe in Him, they would receive eternal life and would enjoy Heaven with Him. Jesus is making it clear that if they continue to believe as He had told them in verse 1, they would have a place with Him in the place He is preparing for them.

viii. Jesus gives them assurance by telling them, if He truly was leaving them just as He had told them in verse 36, if I am truly leaving, why would I have told you this if there was no room for you? This is the very reason Jesus was telling them to believe Him. He was telling them that He indeed was going to leave them, but at the same time, prepare a place for them so that although they can’t follow Him immediately, just as He had promised they would be able to come later, He was making it possible that they could come later.

ix. Now we have to think what does this mean that He is going to prepare a place for them? Jesus is not going to Heaven to make room for them. He had already told them that there is plenty of room for them. So what does He mean that He is going to prepare a place for them? Jesus is meaning that He is preparing a way to Heaven for them. It literally means that He is making a way for them to Heaven.

x. You see, when we understand that salvation is God making a way for us to get to Heaven, that is exactly what Jesus is saying. Believe God and believe in Him when He tells us this.

xi. My favorite part about verse 3 is the promise He makes with all believers. Once I prepare a place for you, once I setup the road to Heaven for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself. I love this promise that He will come again. This is the only instance in the entire New Testament where Jesus speaks of coming back which gives us explicit evidence of a second coming. He promises his disciples, “I will take you to myself, so that where I am you too might be,” drawing them together to Him.

xii. Then language here that Jesus is using when He says “that He will come again and receive you to Himself” is dealing particularly with Jewish betrothals. When a Jewish man and woman were engaged, the groom would give the bride money or a valuable object (ring) to seal their covenant vows.

xiii. The only way to cancel this contract was to get a religious divorce. We saw this is Matthew 1:18-25. When Joseph heard Mary was pregnant, he considered divorcing her because he had not yet brought her home as his wife. They were betrothed to get married, but were not married yet. It is during this betrothal period that the groom would go and prepare a place for his bride. He would go build a room to his Father’s house or He would build his own house to live. After he builds this place, he would go back to his wife and take her home to be married. This is why betrothal periods were usually one year long. It was that long because it would take time to prepare this place to live. This is the context that Jesus was speaking. Just as the husband prepares a place to live, that is exactly what Jesus was doing for believers. After He prepares the place to live for them, He would join all believers to Himself.

xiv. Now the gift here is not that we have a place to live. No, that is the cherry on top. The greatest promise is that we would be with Him. Can we understand Jesus’s point here? The greatest gift of the Christian is the gift of Christ Himself. If our faith is about a person and our relationship with that person, then the promise and gift is that person.

xv. We have to ask the question here. When we think about our spouses or family, do we love them because of the life we have built with them or because we love the person? Do we love the benefits we have received because of this person? Or do we love the person?

xvi. Believing in Jesus and the greatest prize for the believer is Christ Himself. This is the promise. Jesus is saying that when He comes back, He will receive us to Him. That is eternal life (John 17:3) and that is the believer’s complete joy. Is that your joy? Is that what you are looking towards?

b. Trust in the Person of Christ (14:4-6)

i. Then Jesus tells them in verse 4, you know the way I am going. He has told them He is going to His Father’s home but at this point, the point Jesus is making is, all they have to do is believe in Him. Believe in what I have taught you and what I am telling you now. If they follow what He says, and the way in which He has gone, even though they don’t know where they are going, they will come to where He is.

ii. This leads Thomas to be confused. I love Thomas and all the believers when they ask questions like this because it shows us no matter how clear Jesus is, we are always confused. Why? Because we forget the simplest truths. We forget often that we are supposed to be thankful. We forget we are supposed to follow Christ, give up everything and follow Him. We forget our own strengths and abilities can’t get us to Heaven, but we rely on ourselves too often.

iii. This question by Thomas is really how we feel. You could see the clear honesty in his words and he doesn’t want to assume anything. He wants Jesus to explain to him word for word what He was talking about. Thomas asks Jesus, Lord, we do not know where you are going, how do we know the way? We could think that Thomas is slow, but based on what Jesus said, He clearly said that they would not be able to go where He was going (13:33, 36).

iv. How can Thomas know the way if Jesus said they would not be able to come? I love these questions because it shows the sincerity of the disciples. It shows that although they spent time with Jesus, there was much they didn’t understand. I think this is true of us too. We know what we read in the Bible, but sometimes, we don’t fully understand how everything will happen. This was what Thomas was asking Jesus.

v. This is where Jesus tells them, the most popular verse in John 14. He says, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. What’s beautiful here is what the Bible writes, “Jesus said to him.” Although the other disciples were there, because Thomas had asked the question, Jesus responds to Thomas by telling him, I am the way the truth and the life.

vi. Jesus makes two things clear here. Jesus says that He is the way. Jesus was telling His disciples that He was going to His father’s home and He was preparing a place for them. The place in which He was preparing was the road for them to get to His father’s house. We recognize that He was talking about His death on the cross in which men would be made righteous and be able to stand before a Holy God. This is why Jesus’s statement, I am the way is significant.

vii. Jesus was making clear here was that, He was the only way to His father’s house. If you think about what Thomas is asking and how Jesus answers, it makes perfect sense. Thomas is asking, how do I know how to get to your father’s house? Jesus says, you will know how to get to my Father’s house because I will lead you there. I am the road to my Father’s house. If you follow me, you will make it to my Father’s house.

viii. This is why Jesus says, no one can get to my Father’s house without Me. Why? Because I have prepared the way to my Father’s house and I am the only one who has the key to enter my Father’s house. Apart from Me, you can’t get to the Father because I am the only one who has the key to the house.

ix. The other point that Jesus makes clear here is that, the prize here is to be with the Father and the Son. Just as Jesus said in verse 3 that He Himself will come receive us to Himself, the prize here is not a place per se. Yes, Heaven is a place that we will go to, but more importantly, the reason Heaven is great is because God is there. We will be with Him. The promise that Jesus gives here is that we can be with the Father. The point that Jesus makes here is that you can’t be with the Father if you don’t come through Me. Jesus is telling all His listeners that you can’t have a relationship with the Father unless you go through the Son.

x. This statement is the same as John 6:44 where Jesus says, No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, then in 6:65, unless it is given him from the Father. With that statement by Jesus and you combine that with John 14:6, only the Father can bring anyone to Jesus and only Jesus can bring anyone to the Father. This is why Jesus says, Believe in God, and believe also in Me.

xi. I pray that we would cherish this truth. Salvation means to enjoy Christ for eternally. Please, understand and remember this. Salvation is to have a relationship with God, through His Son. It isn’t merely to receive gifts from Him. It is to receive the person. It is to love the person.

3. CONCLUSION